The Nandigram and Rejinagar bypolls in West Bengal ended on Tuesday amid high voter turnout. Nandigram recorded 79.39 per cent voter turnout as of 5 pm, while Rejinagar recorded 78.42 per cent.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had predicted voter turnout of around 55 per cent, but the actual figure was much higher.
Adhikari cast his vote at Nandanayakbar Primary School in Nandigram. BJP candidate Hasirani Rath was at the polling station to greet Adhikari.
Hasirani, the mother of Adhikari's slain PA, Chandranath Rath, is seeking to capitalise on the sympathy vote. However, she is not new to politics, having served three times as a panchayat samiti member.
Opposition candidate Milan Pradhan of the Congress is also seeking the sympathy vote after he was jailed on September 18 in connection with multiple cases. He was released on bail ahead of the bypolls. Mamata All India Trinamool Congress (MAITC) is supporting Pradhan after its candidate Sanchita Pradhan Dey pulled out of the contest.
Ehteshamul Haque of the Democratic Trinamool Congress (DTC), led by the Ritabrata Banerjee faction, is another opposition candidate. However, given the relatively weak opposition, the BJP has a strong chance of victory. The saffron party is eyeing a high victory margin to demonstrate that even after Adhikari gave up the seat and retained Bhabanipur, he has the political might to keep Nandigram firmly under his party's control.
Sporadic incidents of violence were reported, including the ransacking of a Congress worker's shop. Congress cried foul, alleging poll rigging and approaching the Election Commission (EC) in Kolkata.
In Rejinagar, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury staged a protest outside the District Magistrate's (DM) office, alleging poll rigging and claiming that people were prevented from voting in some places.
Rejinagar saw Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) founder Humayun Kabir detained by the police and taken to the police station. After casting his vote, Kabir was seen moving from booth to booth, which amounted to a violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), as he is not a candidate. Kabir's son, Golam Nabi Azad, is the AJUP candidate after Kabir gave up the Rejinagar seat and retained Nowada following victories in both constituencies in the assembly elections in May.
Rejinagar has a large number of Muslim voters, whose votes are expected to be divided primarily among the BJP, AJUP and Congress. Choosing BJP candidate Shankharavh Sarkar could appeal to minority voters seeking to back the incumbent party in West Bengal, while promises of development could also work in the saffron party's favour.
Mamata has fielded Rabiul Alam Chowdhury, who initially decided to withdraw from the race on September 19, citing insufficient time to familiarise voters with the new party symbol and alleged intimidation by outside forces. Chowdhury, however, reversed his decision by the end of the day. The Congress candidate is Abdullahil Kafi.
The October 9 bypoll results will offer an indication of the BJP's performance after five months in power. Will the party's pro-development and double-engine government agenda, coupled with a weak opposition, deliver the high victory margins the saffron party is hoping for?
